Elder Law

Caring for Parents with Dementia: Legal Considerations

Published on: September 21, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Parents with dementia and other memory loss disorders, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, present extraordinary challenges for the parent and adult children tasked with assisting them. Drafting a will, making health care decisions, and taking care of legal and financial matters are just some of the items that must be sorted out, hopefully before the onset of the worst conditions.

The first step when caring for a parent is to assess their mental capacity. It is important that you seek medical guidance, including a diagnosis, when you observe signs of dementia. If your parent has been diagnosed with dementia-causing illnesses, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease, adjustments should be made to all legal and financial matters.

Durable power of attorney

Opioid Crisis at Home: Rise in Elder Abuse Tied to Opioid Epidemic

Published on: September 17, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

This is the second post in a two-part series on the opioid crisis at home. Addiction, the subject of our first post, is not the only opioid-related impact on older adults. The following post will examine the rise in elder abuse tied to the opioid epidemic.

I assisted a client with the purchase of commercial real estate property and had the opportunity to talk to the sellers at the property closing. I was surprised to learn that the building had been a family restaurant, in business for nearly eighty years. I asked the sellers why they were selling their business. They told me that they could no longer keep running it. They continued to share that they have two adult children battling opioid addiction.

The dad confided further that their children used to break into their restaurant and steal steaks and seafood to fund their drug habit. They were tired of hiding their valuables around their children and were having a difficult time anticipating what they would raid next. When the kids started breaking into the business, they knew they could not keep it going. In addition, they have grandchildren that they are raising as the primary caregivers because their children and their partners were not able to care for the young ones.

Preventing Deed Fraud and Mortgage Scams

Published on: September 8, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a group of bills intended to increase consumer homeowner protections. By press release, the Governor’s office announced three important improvements in an effort to strengthen homeowner safeguards and close loopholes to prevent deed fraud and mortgage scams.

Unbeknownst to the homeowner, deed fraud occurs when someone steals your identity, forges your name on a deed, and takes title to your home. The homeowner only becomes aware of the fraud when a third-party tries to collect on a mortgage or debt. Seniors are often targeted as unknowing participants in mortgage scams, especially surrounding reverse mortgage products. The purpose of the scam is to steal the equity from your home. Beware of any offer for a free home, investment opportunity or foreclosure or refinance assistance. No reputable company will be calling you cold or knocking on your door with offers that sound too good to be true.

The new laws passed in New York to protect homeowners are as follows:

Affording Long Term Health Care

Published on: August 19, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Millions of people find themselves in a middle class bind as they enter the midpoint of their retirement period. A good eight (8) to ten (10) years into retirement, many individuals are able to physically continue to live in their home and afford the upkeep and maintenance of their home with their retirement savings

Especially if the individual’s home is single-story, as health problems mature, many individuals will be physically able to maneuver their way around their home with little assistance. Multi-story homes become more difficult because climbing stairs may be a problem. Individuals in the midpoint of their retirement are generally still able to care for themselves. Many of them even hold permanent part-time jobs.

The sources of income for individuals in retirement are the fixed income they receive from a pension, an individual retirement account (IRA), Social Security, and 401K savings. Variable income is received through part-time job wages and other financial instruments like an annuity and cash savings.

Medigap changes coming next year for future 65-year-olds

Published on: August 18, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Beginning in 2020, Medicare supplement insurance policies, known as Medigap plans, will offer fewer choices to individuals who reach age 65 after January 1, 2020. Individuals who turn age 65 before 2020 will not be affected by these changes.

The ABCs of Medigap plains

Medigap plans, which are sold by private insurance companies, help cover cost-sharing aspects of Medicare Parts A and B, including copays, coinsurance, and deductibles. Some Medigap plans cover services such as hospitalization and medical care when you travel outside of the United States. Medigap policies generally don’t cover long-term care, vision or dental care, hearing aids, eyeglasses, or private-duty nursing. Source: Medicare.

Study Finds Widely Prescribed Class of Meds Might Raise Dementia Risk

Published on: August 12, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

My doctors always advise me that medications are meant to help me live better not longer. I always walk away from the experience scratching my head a bit because most of my medications have made me live longer but worse than before. The worst part of taking medication daily is remembering to take medication daily. It seems like such a simple task, but part of my brain still fights that I even have to take medications in the first place.

The second worst part of taking daily medications to live better are the side effects, especially interactions with other drugs. Some of the news is easy to ignore, and to a certain extent makes me laugh. For every story I read about the harmful effects of drinking coffee daily, there is another one saying daily coffee consumption would kill me. What kills me, however, is skipping a cup, the headache is the worst.

There is news you should pay attention to and at least discuss with your doctor if it raises any concern with the management of any of your health conditions.

More Good Reasons to Add a Trust to Your Estate Plan

Published on: August 5, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trusts are an excellent way to pass and preserve wealth privately. Two of the main benefits of using a trust to pass your assets – timeliness and cost – were explored in our previous post. Unlike the probate process that accompanies the settlement of an estate by will, a trust provides your heirs with immediate access to the trust benefits. The settlement of an estate passed by will can also gobble over 4% of an estate’s value, regardless of size. A third reason people use trusts to pass wealth is that they also enable the settlor, or donor, to minimize estate taxes, making more of your wealth available to your beneficiaries.

Married couples

The death of a spouse is devastating. Whether the death was sudden or after a long illness, one day you are married and the other day you are not. The deceased spouse wants to be able to provide for the living spouse, especially if the living spouse is battling a chronic health condition. Paying for your spouse’s living expenses and medical care and expenses, including long-term medical care is of paramount importance to the deceased spouse. Married couples can benefit from the establishment of a revocable trust.

Adding a Trust to Your Estate Plan

Published on: August 1, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

Trusts are an excellent method for individuals with substantial assets to pass their wishes and wealth to others or a charitable organization when they pass. The key to an effective trust begins and ends with documentation. The proper documents, when drafted carefully by a qualified attorney, ensures your beneficiaries will reap the benefits of the trust and its property. A trust will fail, if the documentation is improper, negating the settlor’s wishes.

What is a trust?

A trust is a legal document that contains the settlor’s final instructions about to whom his or her assets will pass when they die. There are three separate people involved in a trust creation, administration, and distribution: a settlor, trustee, and beneficiary. Their roles are as follows:

Drug Prices Continue to Soar

Published on: July 28, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

By all accounts drug prices continue to soar. According to a RX Savings Solutions Study, a heavily prescribed antidepressant, fluoxetine marketed as Prozac, has increased in price 879%. More than 3,400 drugs have increased their price in the first six months of 2019, representing a 17% increase from the year before. The Trump administration is trying to rein in the prescription drug prices, but at every turn prescriptions cost continues to rise.

In addition to fluoxetine, other commonly used drugs with big price increases so far in 2019 include:

Mometasone 0.1% Topical Cream. This topical steroid has increased 381% this year, Rx Savings Solutions found. Mometasone treats skin conditions like eczema, hay fever, and asthma.

Report Finds Almost All Americans Take Social Security at the Wrong Time

Published on: July 24, 2019 | by Ettinger Law Firm

One of the most important decisions when contemplating retirement is deciding when to start claiming Social Security benefits. A major study found that almost all Americans take Social Security at the wrong time. This timing problem has cost retirees about $111,000 per household. Retirees typically claim Social Security benefits at 63, the earliest age a person may claim Social Security benefits is 62. Every year they wait to start drawing benefits means a larger Social Security payout. Their recommendation: start drawing Social Security benefits later in your retirement.

Among the Report’s main findings are:

Only 4% of retirees claim Social Security at the most financially optimal time.